The drive to manufacture microelectronic devices having smaller dimensions has lead to the use of photolithography at increasingly shorter wavelengths of light. This in turn has lead to the development of photoresist materials that that are appropriately sensitive to light in the ultraviolet range. Ultraviolet photoresists allow the definition of microelectronic device features having sub-100 nanometer critical dimensions.
Using ultraviolet photoresists in microelectronic device fabrication processes is not without problems however. In some cases, lower than expected yields of microelectronic devices have been obtained when these types of photoresists are used in the device fabrication process. In other instances, the plumbing of tools used to apply ultraviolet photoresists becomes clogged with residual photoresist material resulting in slower device manufacturing throughput.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a method and system for manufacturing microelectronic devices that avoid the above-discussed disadvantages associated with conventional methods and systems that use ultraviolet photoresists.